What does it mean to study
"All the Bible in its Context" ?
All the Bible is important. Our goal is to get you into all 66 books, not just a few favorite ones. The context of any biblical passage is the rest of the Bible. To best understand any part of Scripture we need to have at least an elementary grasp of all 66 books. The Bible says of itself :
"No prophecy is an exposition of its own text."
2 Peter 1:20 Murdock
That means no part may be well understood without considering the rest of the Bible. It is important to study all 66 books.
The Bible is a library of books, not just one inspired writing. It has taken thousands of years to complete, from the first words written by God's own hand on tables of stone (Exodus 24v12) to the last penned by John (Revelation 1v1 & 22v18). There have been challenges to each book and attempts to add books, but the unity and preservation of the collection we now have is indisputable.
"You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."
2 Timothy 3:14-17 NASB
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In its context historically, chronologically, personally and theologically each passage is unique. We cannot impose our present day knowledge, experience or world on ancient writings and people. Nor can we assume the readers had less knowledge or experience than we. It is sure they knew more than we do today about their world. So we need to put ourselves "in their sandales" to read and understand what was originally written for them. With key questions of the biblical texts we can discover the context within which they were written. It is often surprising and always enlightening for the understanding of the Bible. Just remember that we cannot criticize Noah for not praying in Jesus' name !
Our principal tool is always the Bible itself. We encourage the use of eSword's multiple translations to compare how the Hebrew or Greek texts have been interpreted into our language. A concordance can show all the times a word appears in any one translation, but the best is using the concordance of the Hebrew and Greek texts to see what context any one word was used in its original language. This will be your best way to define a word in its biblical context. A Hebrew or Greek dictionary is useful, but it is not the Word of God ! The same goes for biblical commentaries. They should be used AFTER we have done all the other work of discovering the biblical context from the Bible itself. Commentaries are just a check to see if our conclusions are way off track !
Here are seven good questions to ask any text before coming to a conclusion about its application to your life :
1. Who wrote it and who is speaking ?
(List their Names)
2. When was it written and when did the events take place that are recorded ?
(Write down the Dates)
3. To whom was it written and to whom is the speaker talking ?
(Try to describe the People)
4. Where is the text divisable and where are the grammatical divisions ?
(Give the Chapter & Verse)
5. What is the most repeated word & what type of word is it ?
(This is the Key Word)
6. How can the whole text be summarized and how can that be made into a question ?
(Write a Simple Sentence)
7. What is the application and what should I do about it today ?
(Create an Imperative Sentence)
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If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact AzBible by using the form on our "Contact Us" page.